DISCLAIMER:This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.On no account must this story be copied, or reproduced without prior notice of author.***********************************

“That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” -Neil Armstrong

PrologueLegend has it, in the Scrolls of Time, that the universe began with us. Aeons ago, long before any world existed, the Light Eternal blazed and our orb was formed. It stood out in the darkness of nothing, like a pearl. It was called the Moon, the portal to the Light, the centre of the universe, The One.

From that portal came every celestial body and the creatures on them. Thus our universe was formed, with it, the Sun, and the planets.

With the birth of Sun the fiery yellow orb, balance was lost. Our Moon pulled out of its stillness, towards the Sun. Thus Terra with its lower life forms, was formed by The One, three times the mass of the moon, to pull back the moon and bring balance to our world.

Aeons ago, a son of the moon closed the portal of Light. His name, Huu-Mann. The Universe shook, another portal opened somewhere, an opening to pure anti-matter, the devourer... The Nothing.

Stripped of his aura, Huu-Mann was banished with his mate by the Moon Lord to the Moon's rock of blue, Terra, that which they call Earth.

None could re-open the closed portal, but one yet unborn.In the Scrolls of Time it is written:"From chaos shall balance be birthed anew.From within the destroyer shall the builder be.Again shall Terra come to the rescue.Born when the blue pearl shields the orb of silver from the yellow fury."

So we watched Terra for some millennia, waiting, curious. Visiting unnoticed, ever silent, even when offspring of Huu-Mann landed on the Moon and left behind a piece of cloth on a pole.

The Moon was shielded from the Sun, that moment when he was born... On Terra.

Better off what? What did he say?All that stared back at me was an Al Jazeera reporter telling me about some war in the Middle East. I wasnt interested.

"Mtscheeew"I was very sure I hissed inside of me, but my father looked at me and asked what I said.

"Nothing" came my cautious reply. But it was annoying. Why would he change the channel without warning? Ok, he bought the tv and dstv. So? Now I would have to look for a way to finish Van Helsing.

Fathers and news. I shook my head, making sure it was the one in my mind I shook.

I stepped out. It was dusk outside. The leaves of our mango tree rustled in the cool evening breeze. Our compound is a large one, with a bungalow in which we lived, three cars and plenty unoccupied space. Up in the sky, bats had started to fly past.

I remembered Dracula and wondered if one of the bats would just swoop down and set its fangs on my neck. I shuddered at the thought but remained outside anyway.Then in the distance, something caught my eye...

Better off what? What did he say?All that stared back at me was an Al Jazeera reporter telling me about some war in the Middle East. I wasnt interested.

"Mtscheeew"I was very sure I hissed inside of me, but my father looked at me and asked what I said.

"Nothing" came my cautious reply. But it was annoying. Why would he change the channel without warning? Ok, he bought the tv and dstv. So? Now I would have to look for a way to finish Van Helsing.

Fathers and news. I shook my head, making sure it was the one in my mind I shook.

I stepped out. It was dusk outside. The leaves of our mango tree rustled in the cool evening breeze. Our compound is a large one, with a bungalow in which we lived, three cars and plenty unoccupied space. Up in the sky, bats had started to fly past.

I remembered Dracula and wondered if one of the bats would just swoop down and set its fangs on my neck. I shuddered at the thought but remained outside anyway.Then in the distance, something caught my eye...

ok, write on, I'm reading...the father thingy can be very annoying tho, my Dad does it all the time, diff is he watches wrestling and football and screams at me that I don't watch the news...

Bolushalom: ok, write on, I'm reading...the father thingy can be very annoying tho, my Dad does it all the time, diff is he watches wrestling and football and screams at me that I don't watch the news...

lol... Wait till you buy your own tv. But African Magic reach to make am shout for you na

***********Behind the row of ixora near the gate, something glowed steadily. There was no one to ask.I decided to go investigate. As I moved towards it, it seemed to pulsate. With each step, it blinked faster. It stopped when I stopped.

I inched closer.I could see it now.Floating in the air was a ball of molten blue something which glowed and dimmed like the abdomen of fireflies.

I decided against going to call anyone, no one would believe me enough to come check it out anyway. I had not even believed it myself.

I looked around. Where are sticks when you need them? Even with curiousity heightened, I dared not touch it with my fingers.It did not take long to gather small stones. With trembling fingers, I aimed the first pebble at the strange blue light with all the seriousness of David at his Goliath.

The stone veered completely off target like a Yakubu shot. I took aim with the next stone. It went right through as if nothing was there. Strange!

Three stone throws later and the same result, curiousity pulled me closer. Heart pounding against my ribcage, my right index finger pointed, I took short wary steps, ready to make a run for it at the slightest hint of danger.It was unnecessary, for my finger soon touched it...

and nothing happened.

Emboldened, I cupped my hands around it. It dimmed... Then floated up glowing and steadily increasing in intensity. Startled, I withdrew several feet away and looked on.

Like a movie, the rest of it played out. First, the strange blue light hurtled down towards me. My feet suddenly rooted to the ground, unresponsive to the impulse to run.The orb exploded in a brilliant flash as it touched me. My screams pierced the calmness of the evening.Then, darkness descended, drowning both my screams and consciousness.

I woke up feeling different. Our compound had changed too. I could not feel the soft rush of cool breeze on my face. All vegetation was gone, so was the fence, gate and even our house.

It didnt seem like our compound anymore. Maybe it wasnt.The ground on which I lay felt different, somewhat rocky and cold. I sat up and looked around. Confusion settled fast. I had never been here before. Nowhere in Edo State, and I'm sure the whole of Nigeria looked this way, at least the places I had been to.

It was just a bare wasteland of grey rocks. Up above, there were no clouds, the sky was not azure, just pitch black with stars looking bigger and brighter than I had ever seen them.

No, it was not night, the sun was still out, perching at the horizon, brighter than before but not nearly as hot. Or was it because I could not feel? It was a dream, I was sure, still I was about to pinch myself to confirm.

"Greetings human"

Startled, I jumped up from where I sat and shot right into the air. Instead of landing back to the ground, I floated in the air.Reality was starting to kick in. The blue light. My screams. The flash. What happened? Where am I?

The voice. I looked around from my unstable perch in mid air. What suspended me this way? My feet searched for the ground while my eyes searched for the one who had spoken.

It was clear and unmistakable. Someone had talked to me, and in a funny accent I had never heard before. He has said 'human' like it was 'who-mann'.

"Who...who is that?"I had intended to sound very masculine and intimidating, instead all I heard was a quaky voice, barely louder than a whisper.There was no answer. I reapeated my question. It was louder this time.

"You cannot see us with eyes unopened. You have not mastered your aura"

Aura? What is this one saying?As if reading my thoughts, the voice continued."There are many things you must yet learn, things you cannot be taught"

"Whaaaaaaat! How am I supposed to learn what I cannot see" I fumed.

Just then something began to glow and whatever it was suspending me in the air dropped me gently on my knees with my face to the ground. Eyes shut I felt energy surge within me. It was not the frustration-birthed rage I felt inside. It was nothing like I had felt before.

I opened my eyes. The ground beneath me reflected some sort of glow. It was no from a something.It was from me!

Slowly, I rose up, careful not to float in the air this time. It was easy. Every part of me was aglow, brilliant blue like that ball of light.

That was when I saw them...* * * * * * * * * *A crowd of strange creatures stared at me, curiosity etched on their faces. They looked human. Okay, maybe a different breed.

They stood remarkably tall with big feet and large ears. Like me, they glowed but with different colours and intensity. With large piercing eyes, they stared on.He spoke. The one who had been speaking.

"You are learning Earthling. I am impressed"

Earthling? He sounded like those proud alien warlords in movies. It made little sense to me, yet I said nothing and instead studied him. He was taller than everyone else, with an expression I could not quite read. It looked like he was clothed with light, like everyone else. Like the others, his eyes seemed further apart than any human I had seen and they glowed turquoise like the rest of him. Just above his eyes his thin curved brows seemed to meet at the middle. Beside him stood a female of whatever they were. The only female I could see around.

Like her people, she looked like any lady would look save for her eyes, ears and feet. Like me, she glowed blue. With dark hair that flowed down behind her, she was beautiful. Strange in a way that made me remember my childhood crushes. Well, mother still called me a child.

"You are welcome" the spokesman finally said after it became obvious I was not going to talk. No that I didnt want to, but the sight before me was a strange mix of scary, exciting and impossible. It didn't seem real.

"Who are you? Where am I?" I heard myself say.

"We are the guardians of the Light, first offspring of The One, the origin of worlds... We are..."

He just stopped. Are what? Many words and not even one eased my confusion. I looked back at the female. Her lips seemed to have formed a smile. She looked up at the one who spoke, who seemed to be their leader, and then back at me.

"we are man... The Moonman race" Their leader finally continued. "You are home, where you truly belong, you are one of us."

"Rubbish!" I retorted.They gasped. Their colours turned pale. Only the female remained the way she was. Their leader glared at her. She shrugged and turned pale too.

"This is just one silly dream that only seems real. You are all in my head! No one lives on the moon, much less humans who can speak English. This is my dream and I get to say what happens. I am not one of you. I'd wake up soon and you will all be gone" I yelled.

For several seconds no one talked. They stared at me. I returned the favour.

"Earthling, Son of Huu, like the lower lifeforms of Terra you see nothing and know much less. Like your father, you are arrogant." their leader continued. "There is alot you must learn."He sounded like some know-all control freak. I instantly disliked him.

"You know nothing about me!" I fumed "or my father, not even his name!"

Oahray use suspense to ur advantage. The part where the lunar being said " We are.....". U should have waited for someone to push u on. Dat way u'll garner more fans and know them.I love the story all the way. Really good.In the first or second post, u added a sweet kinda comparison"missed it like an obafemi shot" or something like that.I wanna see more of dat.Kudos! Bravo! Oshe!! Etcoya bring next update

Redmosquito:Oahray use suspense to ur advantage. The part where the lunar being said " We are.....". U should have waited for someone to push u on. Dat way u'll garner more fans and know them.I love the story all the way. Really good.In the first or second post, u added a sweet kinda comparison"missed it like an obafemi shot" or something like that.I wanna see more of dat.Kudos! Bravo! Oshe!! Etcoya bring next update

lol@ "U should have waited for someone to push u on". hmmm... You are very much guilty of that. Thanks for the heads up.